Chiesa di S. Michele in Foro — Lucca, Toscana
Posted by: 
prussel
N 43° 50.590 E 010° 30.160
32T E 620792 N 4855551
The Chiesa di San Michele in Foro is a Roman Catholic basilica church in Lucca, built in the 11th to 14th century in the so called "romanico pisano" style
Waymark Code: WM14GMY
Location: Toscana, Italy
Date Posted: 07/05/2021
Views: 22
A church at this place is mentioned for the first time in 795 as "ad foro" ("in the forum" - at the centre of the ancient forum of the Roman city). The present church was rebuilt after 1070 by will of Pope Alexander II.
Notable is the façade, from the 13th century, with a large series of sculptures and inlays, numerous of which remade in the 19th century. The lower part has a series of blind arcades, the central of which includes the main portal. The upper part, built using plenty of iron materials to counter wind, has four orders of small loggias. The façade was built for a higher planned nave, which did not come to pass - hence the disproportionate height of the façade compared to the church building behind it. On the summit, flanked by two other angels, is the 4 m-tall statue of St. Michael the Archangel. According to a legend, an angel's finger would have a huge diamond. On the lower right corner of the façade is a statue (1480) of the Madonna salutis portus, sculpted by Matteo Civitali to celebrate the end of the 1476 plague.
The church interior has a nave and two aisles with transept and semicircular apse; the nave is supported by arcades on monolithic columns. From the southern transept rises the bell tower, built in the 12th-14th centuries, with a series of single, double and triple mullioned windows. Its last floor was demolished during the rule of Giovanni dell'Agnello (1364-1368), Doge of Pisa, because the sound of its bells could be heard as far as Pisa.
sources: wikipedia, Associazione Culturale Italia Medievale